The Challenge of Vegetables on High Protein Diets

Vegetables have many of the micronutrients that high protein diets like keto or low carb diets are missing. Many people however, find it difficult to add vegetables to a daily meal plan. Often this vegetable challenge is due to a perceived lack of flavor or to lack of experience with simple cooking methods. This guide will help make cooking with vegetables an easy, enjoyable and tasty experience, regardless of the type of diet you are on.

Jump to: The Need for Vegetables in High Protein Diets | Nutrient Dense Vegetables that are Low Carb | 4 Easy Ways to Add Vegetables | Tips for Cooking Vegetables

This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I also earn from qualifying purchases. You can read our disclosure information here– 

Vegetables’ (and some fruits’) role in a Low Carb or Keto diet

Vegetables offer the micronutrients that you can’t always get from high protein or high fat diets.

Also, getting a good repertoire of mostly low carb veggies under your belt will give you the additional micronutrients you need if you are shying away from the sugar in fruit.  

With respect to fruit, the sugar in fruit (called fructose), can cause an insulin response in a similar way as white processed sugar.  Berries are a bit of an exception here.

Fruit can certainly be healthy (depending on what kind you are eating), but if you are interested in weight loss, fruit is considered “natures candy” and needs to be quite moderate.

Best to save most fruit for cheat days or celebrations and stick with the veggies……if you want to lose weight that is. If your goal is health and not weight loss, more fruit is certainly an option.

Nutrient Dense Low Carb Vegetables

Many nutritionists rate vegetables according to the micronutrient density per calorie or per cup. Included in nutrient dense vegetables are higher carb sweet potatoes, beets and all types of beans. Eat these in careful moderation if you are counting carbs and stick to low carb vegetables for daily meals!

All the various nutritional sources I researched highlighted the same low carb veggies that were considered nutrient dense.

Some of these vegetables are easily incorporated raw into a daily salad or even a morning smoothie. Others can be quickly and easily roasted or sautéed.

If you are tracking net carbs, the visual vegetable chart below can be helpful.

Easy Ways to Add Veggies to Low Carb Diets

1. Try adding spinach to a morning smoothie.

2. Daily salads with lemon juice

• Mixed lettuces such as romaine, arugula, endive, swiss chard, radicchio.
• Add radishes, cucumbers, tomatoes, mushrooms, shredded carrots.
• You can dress with a bit of olive oil and lemon juice – delicious!

3. Roasting (Sheet Pan Cooking)

Roasting fresh or even frozen veggies is easy! And you can roast in advance, keep refridgerated, and add later to salads or zap in the microwave for a healthy addition to dinner. Check out my post on roasting winter vegetables for more tips. Don’t be afraid to experiment with spices!

Tip: A great way to add flavor to veggies is to drizzle roasted vegetables with a fruit vinegar (aka shrub syrup) towards the end of cooking. Red wine vinegar can work well also, but fruit vinegars add that mystery flavor that really enhances bland food. You can make your own fruit vinegar, or purchase a fruit vinegar of your choice.

4. Sautéing

Sautéing low carb fresh or frozen veggies is also easy (don’t need to thaw frozen vegetables). Sautéing (or stir-frying) has the advantage of keeping the beautiful colors bright and is a nice change from roasted veggies.

You can sauté with a bit olive oil, butter, or a combination. Adding some minced garlic and/or onion can add both micronutrients as well as terrific flavor. This Mediterranean Sautee (stir-fry) Recipe is a great example of the ins and outs of sautéing.

Tips for the Beginner Vegetable Cook

Although Italian, French and many other cultures have the long tradition of cooking vegetables daily, American cooks are sometimes a bit reluctant to do so.

If you didn’t grow up cooking vegetables, it is likely that the idea is attractive but the thought of cooking vegetable dishes every day when our lives are so busy is less appealing. Why is that?

Vegetables….now that requires a bit of thought.  What recipe to use? How long do you cook them, what method, what spices to add, etc.? 

My two biggest challenges were basic unfamiliarity with recipes and my perception that all that veggie prepping right before dinner was too time consuming.

Common Vegetable Challenges

**Want more like this? Subscribe to our  Sunday newsletter  to get recipes, gardening guides and diet help. Let’s go from Inspiration to Done!